#this is probably my favorite back and forth moment between neil and chris from the episode adjkfdklj

[viir-tanadhal]

Neil: Well I came to London… I did my A-levels…  Chris: Did you pass them? Neil: I did… Chris: A*s? You invented… you invented the A*! Neil: I only did three A-levels: History, English Literature, and Economics. I didn’t get Economics. Chris: They served you well, didn’t they? Neil: But I got an O-level pass on Economics, I was quite pleased, getting an O-level ‘cause I never really knew what was going on in it. And History of course I’ve always been pretty good at although I only got a B! Didn’t get an A. And I got a C in English Literature. Chris: You’ve made up for it now, haven’t you– Neil: I made it– Chris: He’s got honorary this… [Neil groans], honorary that. Haven’t you got a doctorate? Neil: I’ve– Chris: He’s a doctor! Neil: I’ve got an honorary… I’ve only got one thing, Chris, an honorary doctorate from Durham University. Chris: What for? Neil: A doctorate of letters. Chris: Letters… Neil: Yes… Chris: ...not numbers. Neil: Not numbers. Robert: That’s pretty chic coming from Durham. That’s like… that’s like– intelligence… Chris: He turned down a few before he accepted that one! Robert: Ohh, well done. Chris: He wasn't going to get it from one of the lesser universities! Russell: Have you not been given any honorary– Chris: Have I–? I nearly swore there.  Russell: You can swear. Chris: I can’t swear! Robert: You can, we love swearing. Chris: Have I heck? Neil: [laughs] Russell: How do you feel [laughing] about that, then? Chris: Well I wouldn’t accept it anyway so they probably know me better than that. Russell: Wouldn’t you? You wouldn’t want those letters after your name. Chris: I’d be like, “What are you doing? Like I’m going to turn up for that.” Neil: Didn’t you get something… you went to your old school once for something.  Chris: That was at school and I’d already left! I got the music prize. Neil: No! Chris: And I was really annoyed about having to go to that as well. Neil: No I thought you went to something… Oh you opened a school building. Robert: You cut the ribbon! Neil: Yes… Robert: Oh my God that’s glamorous.  Chris: I made a big speech and I did the whole thing and about a year later the school closed. Russell: No!! Why did you open it?? Chris: And I didn’t even get my plaque! [Robert and Russell laugh] Russell: It said “Chris Lowe opened the school.” Chris: Yeah! "Opened by Chris Lowe". It should’ve said "Closed by..." Russell: …Closed the school. Neil: I didn’t know you had a plaque! Out comes the Queen… Chris: I know, it was, it very much was like that! Neil: …and a little curtain! [Laughs] Chris: Anyway… Next year the school was gone. Robert: Oh my God that’s so… Neil: Talk about the curse of the Pet Shop Boys.

TalkArt Podcast "Pet Shop Boys" (April 26, 2024)

[musicoccurred]

Pearl Jam -The Home Shows

Who: Pearl Jam Where: The Home Shows, Seattle, WA. When: August 8, 10 2018

I've said this before and it remains true. A Pearl Jam concert is much more than just a show. It's a celebration. A celebration of music, of a long relationship and of course, life. Very few places do I feel absolutely at home but a Pearl Jam show is one of them. Certainly we're all different people but for 3 hours we're one. These Seattle shows reminded me of a pilgrimage, I'm sure there were lots of Seattle folks there but most of the people I chatted with were from other places. For me it was a bucket-list item, to see Pearl Jam in their home city, a city that gave us so much music and so many iconic bands.

These concerts, "The Home Shows," given that name because the tour takes place mainly in MLB stadiums, had a similar feel to PJ20 the 20th anniversary shows in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin in 2011. No, there weren't multiple bands on the bill, but there were multiple activities and certainly a festive vibe. The Seattle Museum of Pop Culture, aka MoPop, had an exhibit dedicated to Pearl Jam opening on the Saturday after the shows but 10c (Ten Club, Pearl Jam's fanclub) members could gain access on Thursday during the day off between shows. London Bridge Studios where Ten was recorded also had Pearl Jam specific tours and legendary concert photographer Danny Clinch had a pop up shop with photos available for autograph and purchase. Did I mention it all took place in Seattle? Not only a great city but a city full of Pearl Jam history, we're talking The Off Ramp, Moore Theater, Benaroya Hall, Showbox, Easy Street Records, the list goes on!

Wednesday, Night 1

It has become popular again for bands to have artists make posters for concerts, particularly individual posters for each show. Pearl Jam is one of the few that's always done this. It is an expensive habit and the posters are treated as currency among 10c members. For these shows there were 5 unique posters all by artists Pearl Jam has used extensively in the past. A point of contention here, at their larger shows, the band has started setting up tents to sell merch throughout the day and even on days before and after the shows. Because they are open to the public, it's safe to say there are people there buying and going straight to eBay. The lines took many hours to navigate, there has to be a better way. How about when a 10c member buys a ticket through the band's website we get a code unique to us that allows us to purchase merch online and have it shipped to our homes? Place whatever quantity limits you want, something needs to change. A highlight of waiting around in the sun all day, I met a cool young man that had traveled from Tokyo to attend his first Pearl Jam show. There were people coming to Seattle from all over the world, this guy was in for a night he won't soon forget.

Several years ago Pearl Jam shows began lasting +- 3 hours. They always played a lot of songs but when this happened they finally shed the opening act. No complaints here. At 8:30 straight up the band took the stage to a loop of "Aye Davanita" from Vitalogy and ease into "Long Road." Now PJ's MO is that they play a quiet track or two then something noisy. Not on this night, Eddie wanted it to be an intimate gathering so "Long Road" led to "Release" followed by "Low Light" and crowd favorite, the singalong "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town." Genius. How do you transition from slow and quiet into something noisy? "Corduroy" that's how. Even though it's a song that PJ play pretty much every show it remains a favorite for me. Its long intro whips the crowd into a frenzy that continued with "Go,"  "Do the Evolution" and the Ramones-esque "Mind Your Manners." Each setlist is crafted by Ed with input from the band to fit the venue, audience and history of the band/city. Probably the most notable moment of the show was when Eddie broke down the meaning of "Evenflow." "Evenflow" is a concert staple, performed pretty much every time they play. In the 90s it was the song people liked when they didn't like PJ. Fast drums and guitars, weird lyrics just a fun rock song. But on this night, after the band had worked hard with politicians and local businesses to raise money and awareness for Seattle's horrible homeless problems Ed opened up a bit. When the band had just formed they spent a lot of time in the Belltown/Pioneer Square areas of Seattle. They befriended another Eddie, this one a homeless African-American Vietnam Veteran with mental health problems. He was known for his wild hair and wearing a tarp like a poncho. When he was mentally present he would tell them about Vietnam and his struggles with returning to civilian life. Other times, he simply wasn't there mentally. His visits greatly affected the band and when they came back from a tour they couldn't find him. Searching all over Seattle they finally found him sleeping on concrete under a viaduct. Returning from a later tour they again couldn't find him and discovered he had passed away. Suddenly "Evenflow" makes perfect sense, Ed held on to that story for 28 years. Other highlights, Ed performed a solo rendition of Jack White's "We're Going to be Friends" in honor of teachers everywhere. During the performance, his daughters danced with their favorite teachers (clad in Mariners jerseys with Vedder on the back) behind him. During the encore Brandi Carlile joined the band for "Again Tonight" a song PJ had covered for a benefit album. I love when other musicians join Pearl Jam on stage and look out at the giant crowd with wide eyes, Brandi ever the badass, threw her head back and screamed into the Seattle sky. They closed the show with "Rockin' in the Free World" and my least favorite live song, "Yellow Ledbetter" the show clocked in at 33 songs over 3 hours.

Thursday, Day Off

I snoozed on the London Bridge Studios tickets so that was out. I was looking forward to roaming around the city and attending the Pearl Jam exhibit at MoPop. Situated near the Space Needle and the Experience Music Project, MoPop is covered in tourists. Lucky for us this was a 10c event only. Jeff Ament is the de facto historian of the band keeping massive amounts of memorabilia in a warehouse. This band kept everything. I mean EVERYTHING. They have the cassettes that Stone/Jeff and Ed mailed back and forth to begin their relationship. Seeing these in person was powerful. Pearl Jam have provided the soundtrack to my life and quite literally if those tapes didn't exist I wouldn't have been standing there all those years later. Favorite moments: seeing the typed and written lyrics and loads of Ed's notebooks, the incredible statue of Andy Wood that Jeff commissioned (more on that here) as well as posters from every show. If you're in Seattle I highly recommend seeing this exhibit.

Friday, Night 2

Again starting at 8:30 PJ opens with three slow burners, "Oceans," "Footsteps" and "Nothingman" before blasting off with "Why Go" and "Brain of J." This was going to be awesome. I love the 2nd PJ shows, all of my needs are met by the first night. Nervousness is gone, just relax and enjoy the show. This show really focused on older material, only two tracks were post 2000. The band were much looser as was the crowd. The singalongs were louder and sharper, I refrained, choosing instead to just absorb the love and energy flying around the stadium. During "I Won't Back Down," a solo tribute to the great Tom Petty, Eddie asked the crowd to turn on their cell phone flashlights so Tom could see. The result was mesmerizing. The band also honored Chris Cornell by performing "Missing," a very rare deep cut. Speaking of Cornell, Kim Thayil joined the band for "Kick Out the Jams" and later joined Steve Turner and Mark Arm of Mudhoney (and Green River!) for "Search and Destroy" and "Sonic Reducer." Favorite moments: the aforementioned songs plus Ed hosing up the intro to "Rearviewmirror" to the point the band had to stop. Ed broke into "Fernando" by Abba saying that's what he was hearing. What can I say, the guy is hilarious. Other notable moments, Mike's solo on "Evenflow" was one of the best I can remember. What a beautiful night. 36 amazing songs over 3.5 hours in the glorious Seattle night.

Setlist Night 1:

Long Road Release Low Light Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town Corduroy Go Do the Evolution Mind Your Manners Throw Your Hatred Down (Neil Young cover) Lightning Bolt Given to Fly All Those Yesterdays Even Flow Help! (The Beatles cover) (snippet) Help Help Black Setting Forth Play Video I Am a Patriot (Little Steven cover) Porch Encore: We're Going to Be Friends (The White Stripes cover) (live debut by PJ) Nothing as It Seems Let Me Sleep Breath Again Today (with Brandi Carlile) State of Love and Trust Rearviewmirror Encore 2: Wasted Reprise Better Man (with “Save It for Later” tag) Comfortably Numb (Pink Floyd cover) Alive I've Got a Feeling (The Beatles cover) Rockin' in the Free World (Neil Young cover) Yellow Ledbetter

Setlist Night 2:

Oceans Footsteps Nothingman Why Go Brain of J. Interstellar Overdrive (Pink Floyd cover) Corduroy Rats In Hiding Whipping Even Flow Missing (Chris Cornell cover) (live debut by PJ) Daughter (with "W.M.A" and "It's Ok" tags) Immortality I'm Open Unthought Known Can't Deny Me Do the Evolution Lukin Porch Encore: I Won't Back Down (Tom Petty cover) (EV solo) Thin Air Better Man (with "Save It for Later" by English Beat tag) All or None Crown of Thorns (Mother Love Bone cover) Kick Out the Jams (MC5 cover) (with Kim Thayil) Spin the Black Circle Play Video Rearviewmirror (with "Fernando" (ABBA)… more ) Crazy Mary (Victoria Williams cover) Jeremy Leash Search and Destroy (Iggy and The Stooges cover) (With Kim Thayil, Steve Turner, and Mark Arm) Sonic Reducer (Dead Boys cover) (With Kim Thayil, Steve Turner, and Mark Arm) Alive Baba O'Riley (The Who cover) Yellow Ledbetter

-JS

[thenatureofpages]

5 Reasons You Should Consider Participating in NaNoWriMo

Leaves are changing colors, the air is crisp, and pumpkin spice lattes are available to the masses. Do you know what that means?

NaNoWriMo season is almost upon us!

That’s right – the nonprofit writer’s program National Novel Writing Month, commonly known as NaNoWriMo – is getting closer!

“Wait,” you might be saying, “What exactly does this mean?”

WELL! Allow me to tell you!

National Novel Writing Month is a writing challenge in November with a simple goal: write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days.

NaNo is also far more than that – it’s a community, it’s a way of life, it’s – okay, I’m probably getting ahead of myself. I’m just really passionate about the program – in fact, I even wrote my college admissions essay on the life-changing power of NaNoWriMo!

1. Having a Deadline is Incredibly Motivating!

I don’t know if you’re anything like me, but if you are, then you struggle with procrastination. A lot. If procrastination were a major, I’d have a Ph.D. in the study. Yet every year when NaNoWriMo season rolls around, I find myself eager to write and hit my daily word count goal. I’ll wake up early, go to bed late, and even get my regular work done faster to have more time to write. The NaNoWriMo website also provides you with badges as you hit specific landmarks – your first 25k, writing for 10 days in a row, etc. – which I love to try and collect throughout the month.

2. A Sense of Community!

This is one of my absolute favorite parts on NaNoWriMo – the community! Currently, the site boasts over 370,000 participants between the Young Writer’s Program and the main NaNoWriMo program! Every November, Twitter, Bookstagram, and BookTube is flooded with posts and #WIP updates for WriMos to encourage, inspire, and support one another! The NaNoWriMo website also hosts forums for writers to flock together and form a community. I found some of my best friends through their website and am still heavily involved in local events too!

That’s right – not only is there an online community, but there are also offline ones as well! Most cities host NaNoWriMo events put together by your local Municipal Liaisons – MLs for short. Depending on your location, libraries, coffee shops, and bookstores have been known to hold NaNoWriMo meetings for writers to gather and participate in word wars and chat about your book. It’s a blast!

3. No Time for Doubt!

The basis of NaNoWriMo is writing 50k in 30 days – this means you’re writing 1,667 words every day. If you’re a fast writer, this might be easier for you, but it’s definitely not for me! This will be my fifth year participating in the annual event, yet the word count still catches me every time! When you’re writing so many words per day, you don’t have time to stop and edit what you’ve written! There’s no time for writer’s block! If you want to make it to the finish line and claim sweet, sweet victory, you have to trudge through it one foot – or word – in front of the other. Eventually, the writer’s block or problem-scene will end, and it’ll become smoother sailing once more.

For those of us who struggle with self-doubt or perfectionism, this is also super helpful. I tend to go back and fret over my writing style, “is this too trope-y?”, and all the lovely fears caused by our inner editors. During NaNoWriMo, I have an excuse to say, “Nope! I’ll deal with that in December! For now, just write!”

4. Author Pep Talks!

Look, if you haven’t read the NaNoWriMo author pep talks, you’re sorely missing out. My personal favorite is Lemony Snicket’s, written entirely in satire. I crack up and get inspired every time I read it! If irony isn’t really your cup of tea, they have tons of other pep talks cataloged in their archives, and new ones are sent out during NaNo season!

Here are several of my favorite pep talks given in the past few years:

Brandon Sanderson, Erin Morgenstern, Gail Carson Levine, Holly Black, James Patterson, Jenny Han, John Green, Kate DiCamillo, Maggie Stiefvater, Marie Lu, Marissa Meyer, Meg Cabot, Neil Gaiman, Rainbow Rowell, Scott Westerfeld, Stephanie Perkins, Veronica Roth, and Lindsey Grant.

5. YOU WRITE A FREAKING NOVEL!!

There is absolutely no better feeling in the world than this:

You’ve been writing nonstop for the last 29 days. The end of your novel is in sight – you’ve been through ups and downs with your characters, you’ve cried with them (or because they refuse to stick to your outline), you’ve plowed through writer’s blocks, and you stuck with it for an entire month.

And here it is.

Stare at those words for a moment.

The End.

You’ve written a novel. A NOVEL! It might be terrible – goodness knows some of my NaNoWriMo drafts are so awful that I have to laugh at myself – but you’ve done it. You wrote a novel. You’re a novelist. A writer. An author – published or not, it doesn’t matter. You’re an author to a first draft.

“But Ally…”

“But Ally…I just don’t have the time to write a novel.”

This is by far the most common reason I hear from people for not participating in NaNoWriMo – and who can blame them? Life gets in the way!

I totally understand – but it’s only for thirty days! After the month you can go back to the sanity of having free time – but for NaNo, we buckle down, we prioritize, and we drink our caffeine by the gallon.

The best advice I ever heard for this problem comes from Chris Baty, the founder and former executive director of the program. He’s written three books about NaNoWriMo and started off the whole event in 1999.

Write in the small moments.

Can you wake up twenty minutes earlier? Go to bed ten minutes later? Write during your lunch break? Jot down snippets on the ride home from work? It’s incredible how many small moments you can find when you prioritize your writing and how much they add up!

“But Ally…doesn’t quality matter more than quantity?”

This is definitely the second most common reason I’ve heard for being nervous about participating in NaNo. The naysayers insist that writing so many words in a month creates a chaotic mess of words with no real quality in writing (no, honestly, I’ve heard someone say this).

Yes, I’ll admit – my drafts are a chaotic mess of words. They’re messy, wonderful, sometimes rambly first drafts that absolutely suck – isn’t that beautiful? First drafts are allowed to be terrible. Usually, they aren’t all too bad – there’s enough to go off of for a second draft. Then maybe a third. Then a fourth, and soon enough, you’re well on your way to getting ready to query for an agent.

Don’t believe me? Check out some of these novels that started off as NaNoWriMo projects:

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Wool by Hugh Howey (soon to be a movie!)

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen (already a movie starring Robert Patterson and Reese Witherspoon!)

The Beautiful Land by Alan Averill

Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress by Marissa Meyer (all three NaNoWriMo projects went on to become best-selling books!)

That’s a pretty dang successful list right there. I think it speaks for itself – NaNoWriMo clearly doesn’t skimp on quality for quantity.

I hope this blog post has been enough to convince you to start thinking about joining NaNoWriMo! I’ll let you in on a closing secret:

Even if you don’t make it to 50k, you still have more words than you started with!

If you only manage to write 200 words during the month of November – guess what? THat’s still 200 more words than you had before NaNoWriMo! At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter how fast you write or what your word count goals are – it’s that you’re writing. And having fun. And probably losing some of your sanity but that’s beside the point.

I really, really love NaNoWriMo and hope I’ll see you on the website! If you decide to join, feel free to add me as a writing buddy to get started! I’m kineticbugsy on NaNoWriMo’s website and @natureofpages on Twitter, where I screech about word wars and character aesthetics throughout the month.

Go forth and write!

Are you thinking about participating in NaNoWriMo? Are you a veteran NaNo back for another season or a newbie? Tell me about your upcoming project or feel free to drop any questions about the annual event in the comments!

TNOP out!

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[daggerzine]

A HEARTY CHAT WITH THOMAS ANDREW OF A CERTAIN SMILE

I’m not even sure how or when Thomas Andrew and I became Facebook friends a few years ago. Probably through a mutual friend, but then I started seeing posts how he had a band, called A Certain Smile. Hey, I loved Rocketship too so I had to investigate. There were a few songs here and there but he and the band were working on their debut full length, Fits & Starts. Well the record came out a few months ago and it’s a terrific little pop record. Jangle pop with solid songwriting, a healthy amount of fuzz and Andrew’s strong and sturdy vocals. Fans of records on labels like Slumberland and Creation will certainly approve. I tossed some questions Thomas’ way and he gave me the skinny on his musical journey, his love of Scottish women and the beginnings of A Certain Smile.. Read on good people….

 Were you born in Philly? Did you grow up there?

Nope, I’m from NY. We moved around a bit. Born in NY then moved to Texas for my first few years, then Long Island, then Upstate. It was a bit of a constant back and forth between the two. And pretty much as soon as I could be mobile on my own, I spent as much time as I could in the City.

What was your first exposure to music? Were your parents into music? Siblings?

Don’t have any siblings, but yeah, My parents were pretty young so most of my first music exposure was 80’s college rock mix tapes my Dad’s best friend made while a DJ at SUNY Albany. I still have a bunch of them. It’s weird, but family road trips were usually marked listening to tapes with New Order, The Cure, Violent Femmes, The Velvets, JAMC, 7 Seconds, old Lemonheads stuff, the Church, and whatnot. My dad also used to like quiz me on what was playing on the local left of the dial station: 102.7 WEQX out of Vermont.

At what age did you pick up your first instrument?

I played Saxophone in grade school, and I always would just sing all the time. I guess I got a bass when I was 16 and played my first show like 2 weeks later. We opened for Violent Society and the Causalities…I was the secret pop kid at the punk shows. I went back to just singing from like 18-20 and then got my first guitar when I was about 21.

Do you remember the first record you ever bought?

I bought 2 tapes simultaneously when I was about 11 or 12: Sir-Mix-A lot’s Mac Daddy and Tom Cochrane Mad Mad World. I can honestly remember everything about that experience. I liked that Life is a Highway song I guess. And I played the crap outta that entire Sir Mix-A lot record. The first actual LP I purchased myself was Sunny Day Real Estate – Diary. I’d had records that were my parents, and I bought a bunch of CD’s but the first piece of vinyl was at the record store I’d end up working for years, and it was Sunny Day.

Had you been in bands back east? Anything the readers might’ve heard of?

I was in some crappy poppy punk/HC bands until I moved to Philly. There I started Ports of Call with my best friend. Ports started out as the original a certain smile, we recorded 4 songs and played a show, and then our bass player bailed and when we started going again we took on different names, till finally Ports happened. We released 2 records, got a little press and stuff. People may have heard of us, we’re on Spotify and Itunes…it’s pretty basic neo-shoegaze stuff, but with a lot of melody and what not. Nicest compliment I ever got was when playing this really kinda boring shoegaze fest thing, someone came up after and was like “you guys totally have a Pale Saints thing I really dig” and as everyone knows the Pale Saints are hands down the GREATEST Shoegaze band there is….so that made my life a little

When/why did you move to Portland, Oregon?

I moved to Portland about 3 years ago. Followed my Ex here for her job. I figured what I do is pretty portable and I had a record about ready, so I could just record it here and find a band…things don’t always work out as planned though. However, in the end the record is out, the band is sorted, the Ex is now just that, and I’m pretty happy in life.

 When did you form A Certain Smile? Does the name come from the Rocketship record (I’ve always assumed so)?

A Certain Smile started in 2002 as a bedroom project in college. My best friend Tom and I started recording songs and started a little label with us and our friends. We had a handful of songs and got offered a show with a band I really loved, problem was we needed a name. So we started going through name ideas, and I started flipping through records I had. We would check names online to see if they were taken. Went through a handful of ideas and then hit A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness. I liked how A Certain Smile rolled off the tongue (especially how it may sound coming from an adorable Scottish girl…if ya know any…) looked it up and no one had taken it. So with 3 days to spare we took the name. I shelved it for a while, but would always bring it back out for little one off shows or some new recording ideas I’d have. When I moved to Portland I decided to just use that going forward.

 Tell me about the recording of Fits & Starts? Did it take a long while to record? Any watershed moments?

We recorded it in Portland over about 3 days all together. But the songs come from about 10 years of writing. Smile was something Tom and I wrote in college, and Summer Blonde was one of the last songs I wrote for Ports. Most everything else was written before moving to Portland for the record I was about to put out before moving. I think Leisure Class is the only “new” song, written after I got here. Zach had the music for it.

The recording was super smooth at this little studio in Portland, the Magic Closet. Hold on Call and Hushed were recorded with an earlier drummer in 1 day, and then the rest a few months later with Ian over 2 days. No real watershed moments, but a lot of caffeine fueled fun. There is a great little piano thing Zach and Ian did that I’d love to put on something, we almost hid it on the Duffle Coat Single we did.

Do you feel like you fit into any kind of scene in Portland? Any bands in town doing similar stuff?

Yes and No, Portland isn’t the pop town of yore, but there are some bands that I think we fit well with. Like No Aloha and bed. , and a bunch of amazing  bands that I think we fit close enough for stuff like Mini Blinds, Havania Wall, Airport, Tender Age, and more. There is a lot of good music in town. But I missed All Girl Summer Fun Band being a thing here…and I will forever be heartbroken over that. I keep trying to push Jen to make it happen again!!!

Tell us about the influence of labels like Sarah and Slumberland on your musical life.

Woosh, I don’t even know if there are words to express that. Finding Sarah and Slumberland was like finding a home, ya know? I remember the first time I heard Another Sunny Day, and the Field Mice. It was like finally hearing something that I’d been looking for forever. Something sweeter and softer than the pop punk I’d keep getting pushed on me in upstate NY. And finding Hood, the Lilys, and Boyracer…it gave me something that felt mine, and when I found people who knew these bands and labels I found instant friends and family.  I used to read liner notes a lot as a kid, and pour over the thank yous for recommendations of bands I needed to check out. That’s why I included a bunch of bands we’ve played with or who’ve just influenced us in the liner notes. Cause I’d love to be that door for someone else someday!

Who are some of your favorite current bands?

I really love so many bands right now, like Martha, Kids on a Crime Spree, Rat Fancy, Eureka California, Tunabunny, Suburban Living, Star Tropics, The Fireworks…this list could go on and on. I listen to a lot of music. Recently I’ve been getting a lot of old singles that I never heard so I can play them on my radio show or at my indiepop brunch. I got so many amazing old records from Chris at Jigsaw it’s been amazing!

Who do you think is the single greatest songwriter working today?

I have to say I’m kinda amazed I have an immediate answer to this, like it just came right to my head: Neil Halstead! I swear I love everything he does, even stuff I was meh on for a while I come back and realize it is just amazing. I love Mojave 3, his solo stuff, the Black Hearted Brother record…and obviously Slowdive….though I think I’m one of 10 people who prefer Mojave to Slowdive…but whatever. Yeah Neil Halstead comes to mind immediately.

What’s next for a certain smile? Touring? More recordings?

Well first we have a second press of Fits & Starts, cause we sold the first batch in like 3 weeks. We’re doing a Pacific NW tour with Rat Fancy in December, and we’re hoping to set up a tour down through California soon as well. We’re hoping to play Athens Popfest next year, and if we can we’d love to do Indietracks and play some shows in Spain. We sold a bunch of records in Spain so it’d be rad to go over there. We have a little 3 song EP we’re putting together with the first 3 songs I wrote here in Portland, and we have another like 8 or so songs ready to go. We’re hoping to maybe put out some singles (would love to find a label who may want to help with that *wink wink to any labels reading!) yeah, that’s about it for now. Just playing as much as we can and trying to tour a bit this year.

Any final thoughts?  Closing comments? Anything you wanted to mention that I didn’t ask?

Thanks for taking the time to interview us, and for listening to the record. Also for the AMAZING single you sold me J I don’t know, beyond that I guess just thanks to anyone and everyone who’ve checked out the record, it means a lot. We’re really excited to get more stuff out and hopefully meet some of you out on the road soon. Cheers!

www.acertainsmile.bandcamp.com 

[disappearingground]

PRODIGAL DAUGHTER Jenny Lewis

Blurt Magazine February 20, 2009

Last year the Rilo Kiley vocalist took a vacation from her band, visited her hometown, and wound up with a solo album.

By A.D. Amorosi

Going back and forth between the past and the present, the inane and the barely passably sensible is pleasing to Jenny Lewis.

That’s her life and that’s her wife, what with having spent the better part of growing up absurdly in one brand of show-bizzy limelight or another; a child of vaudevillians and entertainer-types, a kid actress, a country-tinged pop band chanteuse, a mistress of wordy Saddle Creek-y solo album (Rabbit Fur Coat) éclat.

“And now is my time,” says Jenny Lewis crisply. “My time.”

Not just because she’s away again from that old California gang of hers – the now decade-old Rilo Kiley that she birthed with guitarist/one-time paramour Blake Sennett. Or that she’s simply releasing her second solo effort in two years.

Jenny Lewis has produced Acid Tongue – a damn-near live album that’s got no Pro-Tools, is all analog, is far less wordy than her previous recordings, and whose vocals were tracked as they were happening. Lewis produced it with some old close friends and brought in a few pals to play and sing.

But it’s her.

You can’t help thinking that having her return to her childhood home (the one between Las Vegas and L.A.) of Van Nuys to record Acid Tongue wasn’t just the work of healing old wounds (“Badman’s World”) wounding old heels (“The Next Messiah”) and reconstructing the Oedipal Complex for 2008 (“Jack Killed Mom”), but rather some sassy shout-out of independence and huzzah-huzzah-hoorah-ness.

Besides, there’s got to be some particular self-satisfaction at work; of divinity, silliness and narcissism that would allow her to place her face on the cover of this new album done up as dozens of acid blotter tabs.

“Well, you may as well have a laugh,” says Lewis, about her lysergic cover art. “And if you were to drop a tab, you might very well see as many mes standing before you.”

That doesn’t sound so bad.

From the reaction to 2006’s Rabbit Fur Coat – produced by her bud Conor Oberst’s Bright Eyes stalwart Mike Mogis – a couple-hundred Jennys would be great. She did three tours around that solo effort alone. But it’s always seemed as if Jenny-philes have wanted more of her. No sooner than people liked Rilo’s quirky irked brand of indie-country-pop, Lewis’s soulful squint of a voice and panicky character-driven lyrics (2001s Take Offs and Landings on Barsuk), they wanted the band to go major label and her to go solo. The moment she released something small and the band hit the majors (with 2007s Under the Blacklight for Warners), people wanted more solo stuff from Jenny.

Everybody seems to be waiting for something from her.

“I don’t know why they’re waiting. I’m incredibly stubborn and I probably won’t give them what they want,” she says plainly. She is her own driving force and won’t be cadged into doing more solo projects. She does records with whatever speed and volume because she is not yet satisfied. “I never am and never have been. I want more. I never assume that I’ve done all that I can do. That just happens to be one of my character traits.”

Jenny Lewis dictates the pace. Things have been as such since she decided to become a writer and singer.

Stop.

This is not the question where you ask her about the childhood acting thing. This is the question about the through line that exists between those careers; the one beyond “Show biz.” She goes on to tell me a family history.

Grandmother was a head balancer and dancer with Moscow circus. Grandfather was a small time criminal and singer with vaudevillian Burt Lahr who fell into depression and out of music when Lahr left the act to pursue the role of “Cowardly Lion” in The Wizard of Oz. Both of her parents were musicians who had a lounge act in Las Vegas and were on The Ed Sullivan Show.

“My birth was just a continuation of family business,” she giggles. “But it was also about the continued avoidance – for me – of avoiding the straight life, a regular job. That’s what show biz presents itself as always, a viable option from doing normal 9-to-5 stuff.”

So maybe it’s all one big gesture. But I’m not here interviewing a Jenny Lewis of Facts of Life fame or a Jenny Lewis star of the touring version of The Lion King or a Jenny Lewis known for hosting a reality show and singing for Disney.

Without sounding too lofty, this brand of Lewis found a deeper aesthetic direction, an art form amongst the entertaining bits.

“That’s the only difference I think… I am a writer,” she says. That’s what led her upon meeting Blake Sennett to write their first song together, “Eggs.” “It was before Rilo Kiley. At least before we were called Rilo Kiley. It was on the first day we met.” Sennett had a guitar riff. She had a four track. He laid it down and she wrote stuff over it.

But this is not a Rilo Kiley story.

“Yes,” Lewis says quietly, when I ask if she feels like she and Rilo have grown up together. “In some ways; but I don’t know that we’ll truly grow up.”

Yes. Most of her Rilo Kiley lyrics are less personal than those on her first solo album. But on the new Acid Tongue there’s a darker, deeper mix of the personal and the character-narrative. “There’s so much more Rilo stuff so there’s been more to experiment with and more time for it. But I was comfortable enough here to do both character-driven songs and personal ones.” Does that mean she’ll find a zone in Rilo in which to do both? Or is she better off keeping the personal tunes like “Tryin’ My Best” to herself and for herself?

“To know that there’s someone else you’re singing about can weigh just as heavily as a song you’re singing about yourself,” says Lewis. “Sometimes the personal songs are easier. Sometimes the personal songs bore me.”

She’s tired of hearing of hearing herself complain about stuff. “That is until I write another song about me complaining about stuff.”

Maybe she’s getting better at being solo than Rilo Kiley-ing. She doesn’t know yet. Lewis can say that this Acid Tongue experience – recorded in the same studio where Neil Young did After the Gold Rush and Nirvana did Nevermind – was the most comfortable she’s ever felt in the studio; so comfortable that she was able to sing the songs in their entirety. “The whole record is live, live singing, live playing. I haven’t been able to do that in the past. This may sound a little hippie dippy-ish but I just never felt free enough to do that. I was always self-conscious in the studio.”

Her three weeks spent recording Acid Tongue were planned, but ever so loosely. If they could pull it off the live haste and pace – great.

The title song’s first line – written who-knows-how-many-years-ago when she was living in her Silverlake apartment where she wrote 90 percent of all of her songs – was the start of the record:

I went to a cobbler to fix a hole in my shoe/he took one look at my face/and said “I can fix that hole in you”/“I beg your pardon I’m not looking for a cure/I’ve seen enough of my friends in the depths of the God-sick blues”/you know I’m a liar.

The line didn’t dictate what would happen next. Nor does it sound like anything else on the album. “But there was just something about that first line coming to me; the idea of someone having an answer for you, a solution to something, the sadness of that,” she trails off. “It was a feeling I wanted to go with.”

So Lewis and her co-producer pals Farmer Dave Scher, Jason Lader and songwriter/beau Johnathan Rice, along with musicians/singers Chris Robinson (the Black Crowes), Zooey Deschanel, M. Ward, Benji Hughes and Davey Faragher, all got Acid-ic. So did family members like her vibraphone playing uncle, her singing sisters and – amazingly- Elvis Costello.

“Once we got to the studio it was good and flowed very quickly,” claims Lewis. “We could pull it off. We could play it live. Which is so weird, to have to make a point of that, because that’s what music should be. But I’m a child of the digital revolution.”

I stopped to finish a thought I‘d had earlier: that if she’s having such a good time with people other than Rilo Kiley, is she worried that she might be better at being solo than a Kiley-ite. She’s not. She just wants to make the best music possible with whatever bunch of people she makes it with. She didn’t start playing music to be burdened by her relationships and be miserable. She wants to enjoy myself.

“Now’s the time.” Not just because the moment out there is good. But, not to sound hippie-dippy-ish… “The moment within me is good. I’m just starting to understand what I do.”

And that understanding is? “I’m just learning how to trust myself musically. I’m learning that you don’t have to say as much to make a point.”

True, that. Yes, the inspiration of Laura Nyro’s Gonna Take a Miracle – the spare soul momentum, delirious melody, awestruck joy and the lean accompaniment of the trio of singers that was Labelle – was the backbone for Rabbit Fur Coat. So, too, was a loquaciousness and a series of multi-syllabic phrases that filled every crevice of every song.

Acid Tongue – lyrically – is more economical than that.

“That was a conscious decision. Going back and listening to my older songs I think I was trying to prove something – overstating the obvious.” So she went back over Acid Tongue things and scaled back the syllables. That happened, too, because this album was as much about the total package as it was the worried words and dark passages. The expansive, sometimes-psychedelic harshness is a far cry from Nyro’s stewing Tin-Pan soul and Lewis’ mom’s favorite songwriter.

“Plus the location was more important” says Lewis, discussing Van Nuys’ California’s Sound City Studios. “We were all inspired by the records that’ve been made there. Plus, returning to where I grew up was timely. I needed to address things about my personal life, my past.”

Lewis isn’t so completely revealing as to what she was addressing. You don’t necessarily need her to do so, save for the fact that she expressed pain at having to drive past her childhood home every day as she rode to the studio and then realized that she couldn’t run from things bottled up.

“You cannot run from feelings. You will be unwell. They will affect all that you do. It will ruin your health. In order to do that, I had to make this record there.”

Ask her to focus on the track that best reflects that search for addressing those feelings, for picking at your emotions: she chooses “Badman’s World.”

There’s a certain line that listeners should seek out during that haunted song. Lewis doesn’t know if it’s a necessarily poignant phrase. But it was important enough to stop the recording of another track – “Sing a Song” – as she came up with a twist on “Badman’s World.” Lewis started playing “Badman” on piano only to have the rest of the band join in and the control room ops continue taping.

The line is about scorpions. Originally it was about her and another person being two scorpions in one bottle. Now, it’s about one of those scorpions getting shot by Lewis. Which one gets shot is a mystery worthy of J.R. and Dallas.

“You have to take responsibility,” says Lewis, when asked what the point of the “Badman’s World” is.

Yet the whole album seems to be about her taking responsibility.

She won’t take full credit for the economy of its lyrics not matching the ferocity of its sound. Lewis credits her co-producers and mentions Johnathan Rice. “The four of us together formed one great person.”

That she’s brought up Rice twice and that she’s made music in close proximity with another one-time paramour, Rilo’s Sennett, the questions arise about it being hard or desirable to work with someone you’re having a loving relationship with.

“It is what I do and what I’ve done. It’s just very natural. I’m always thinking about music. Every time, every day, writing words, listening back, criticizing myself. It’s nice to have someone who is up for sharing in that at all times of day at all hours.”

It is a risk, she knows, because you’re chancing personal happiness and the longevity of the relationship. But she knows she has to do it. “You got to do it. And as a woman playing music, it’s nice to have someone by your side… because I am a coward,” she giggles. “Seriously. I’m lucky to have had talented dudes around me.”

Speaking of talented dudes, Elvis Costello worms his way into the conversation in the same fashion he wormed his way onto Acid Tongue. Apparently she first spoke to the British lion when having Christmas with a friend’s father – Costello drummer Pete Thomas. Costello phoned to wish Pete merry-merry, got Lewis on the phone, got her to appear in his “Monkey to Man” video (“I did an awkward walk-by clutching a purse”), then wound up dueting on “Carpetbaggers” when Rice was up for the low singing parts.

“I emailed him. He responded. And in exchange we recorded some of his songs. The vibe was so good there that as soon as we finished mixing, Costello went into make his own record there.”

Like Costello grabbing a lick, all the heavy heady sad moments that fill Lewis’ Acid Tongue are ripe with lightness of being, of funny moments and gentle sessions. The funniest seems the sweetest – the mad-mad-Jim Morrison moment of “Jack Killed Mom.” While the whole song seems to seethe with its death knell promise (“I had to kill off the mother character that was so prominent on Rabbit Fur Coat,” says Lewis), it is her harmonica-blowing dad, jazz-bo Eddie Gordon, on the track.

“I was so tired of talking about my mother from that last record that having my dad play on it was just hilarious. Having him and my family and my friends in the studio felt like an honest record.”

Now let’s back to those acid tabs.

[flauntpage]

Tonight is the 15th Anniversary of the Great Flyers-Senators Brawl

I can’t believe it’s been 15 years since the most memorable regular season game of my sports writing career.

What happened in this game had never happened before in the history of hockey, and since the sport has almost completely gotten away from fighting, it’s likely it will never happen again.

But man, it was glorious.

After the jump is a copy of the story I wrote that night, back when I was just a freelance writer for ComcastSportsNet.com, which is now NBCSPhilly.com

The story is OK by my standards – but there’s some stuff that was left out. So, I’ve added some more details in bold text that will hopefully paint a fuller picture of that beauty of a hockey game.

What a night.

Feisty Flyers Beat Up Senators 

(This really needed a better headline, but SEO wasn’t really a thing then…)

3/5/04

Anthony J. SanFilippo

ComcastSportsNet.com Contributor

Martin Havlat has no one to blame but himself.

All the guy had to do was keep his stick down when the Flyers last met the Ottawa Senators in Canada’s capital city last month.

But instead, he mistook himself for an Iron Chef and Mark Recchi’s head for a nice pot roast.

(It was the second time Havlat had clipped a Flyer in the face with his stick and he was getting a reputation for being a bit too cavalier with it. He had high-sticked Kim Johnsson in the playoffs the season before and the high stick on Recchi certainly appeared blatant and infuriated everyone on the Flyers from the GM’s box on down.)

Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock vowed revenge. (It was one of Hitch’s great quips – “Someone is going to make him eat his lunch.”)

What happened Friday night was not what he had in mind, but hey, he’ll take it and so will the sell-out crowd who witnessed one of the most memorable games in the history of the Flyers franchise.

What happened? Let’s see… where should we begin?

How about the end, where, when the game concluded, the Flyers had seven skaters and a goalie, and the Senators six skaters and a goalie — on the entire squad.

In a game fresh out of 1974, a combined 23 players were tossed from the game for engaging in several melees on the ice. The goalies went toe-to-toe, the coaches screamed unprintable words back and forth at each other across the bench, and blood was spilled. The gloves dropped after every faceoff in the game’s final minutes. Records for penalty minutes were shattered. After the game general manager Bob Clarke went head-hunting, looking for an Ottawa official to tear apart. Even the media from each country had to be separated following an incident.

All the while, Havlat dodged the combat better than President Clinton during Vietnam, hiding on the Ottawa bench or in the penalty box serving penalties for booted teammates.

(Oh, the days when you could inject a little political humor into a sports story. Such a bygone era.)

Oh yeah, the Flyers defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-3. But back to the good stuff.

All told there were a combined 419 minutes in penalties, smashing the league record of 406 set by the Minnesota North Stars and Boston Bruins in February, 1981.

The Flyers obliterated their own team record of 194 penalty minutes set in March, 1979 against the Los Angeles Kings with 213 on Friday.

The two teams also broke a record for most penalty minutes in a period by amassing 409, smashing the league mark of 379 set in the same 1979 Flyers-Kings squabble.

And it all started when a frustrated Senators squad took a run at Sami Kapanen.

“(Rob) Ray went after Sami and started throwing punches at him,” said Donald Brashear. “If you want to screw around, we will take care of business.”

So Brash did. And he beat Ray to a pulp, leaving the Senators’ tough guy dripping blood drops on the ice.

A couple of Senators didn’t take too kindly to Brashear’s easy knockout and went after him as he was skating off the ice. A rumble ensued. Every possible glove and stick was on the ice.

“They were mad because their tough guy got beat up,” Hitchcock said. “Then their next two (fighters) go after two guys who don’t fight at all. That’s why what happened, happened.”

(This is partly true, but also partly disingenuous. Yes, the fighting went on longer than probably necessary because Ottawa coach Jacques Martin threw Chris Neil and Zdeno Chara onto the ice after the Brashear-Ray fight and they went after two non-fighters in Radovan Somik and Mattias Timander. But, in reality, the Flyers were looking for an opportunity to have Havlat pay for his actions, and Martin was rooting him to the bench. That’s what pissed off the Flyers most – a lack of accountability on the part of the Senators, so things got ugly.)

Even the goalies dropped the gloves, as Esche landed a couple of shots to Patrick Lalime’s head.

Brashear amassed 34 minutes of penalties all by himself. He was tossed along with Esche, Danny Markov — who dropped them with Todd Simpson — and Branko Radivojevic, who traded blows with Shaun Van Allen. Ray, Lalime, Simpson and Van Allen all got the gate for Ottawa. All this occurred at 18:15 of the third period.

(I was in the arena, so I didn’t get to hear Jim Jackson and Gary Dornhoeffer call this action until a few days later. Comcast Sports Net re-aired the game as an “Instant Classic” five days later and it drew a higher rating than most live Flyers regular season games at the time. The NHL was not happy with this because they were on a crusade to curb fighting, and replaying this game was promoting it. But Dorny and J.J. were great calling this game. Some great moments including Dorny saying, “Fans can’t stand this though. They don’t like this at all,” as the Wachovia Center was in a frenzy.

It was the best brawl of the season. But that was just the appetizer for a seven-course meal.

Three seconds later, on the very next faceoff, secondary fighter for Ottawa, Chris Neil, jabbed Radovan Somik in the groin with his stick. Somik jabbed back. Then Neil punched him, and every player on the ice went at it again.

More penalties. More ejections. (One of my favorite moments here is poor public address announcer Lou Nolan trying to announce the penalties when another fight broke out and he stopped reading the penalties and let out an exasperated “Oh, boy” over the mic.)

Good-bye to Somik, Neil and Mattias Timander and Zdeno Chara, who also went at it on the same faceoff.

(While this was going on, the players who were ejected were standing in the hallway just steps from the tunnel, watching the feed on a mini TV that Comcast Sports Net had set up in the hallway where reporter Matt Yallof was able to interview players between periods and postgame. When Markov and Brashear saw Neil and Chara jump a couple of non-fighters, they darted back up the tunnel and started screaming at referees Marc Joannette and Dan Marouelli. Brashear even sent one of the equipment guys back into the locker room to get his helmet and gloves – even though he had already been kicked out of the game! At this juncture Hitchock started chirping at Martin. He was telling the Sens coach that all he had to do was put Havlat on the ice and this would all come to a conclusion. Instead, Martin responded by sending Havlat on the ice – to go to the penalty box and serve a teammates penalty. Hitchcock was steamed and directed his players to keep up the physical play. He was going to send a message to Martin for his coaching cowardice.)

Fast forward another three seconds. Michal Handzus, one of Somik’s good friends on the Flyers, attacked Mike Fisher as soon as the puck dropped.

Thanks for playing gentlemen.

By this point, the crowd was in a state of euphoria.

The officials seemed to plead to the benches to end the chicanery.

Oh, but they were far from done.

A mere 23 seconds later, as it appeared cooler heads had prevailed, Recchi drilled Wade Redden into the boards. Redden turned around and attacked John LeClair. Recchi grabbed Brian Smolinski.

More gloves, more penalties, four more players shown the door.

Two seconds later it was Patrick Sharp pounding on Jason Spezza.

Adios Amigos.

Ten fights in 32 seconds. Must be another record.

All the while Havlat just watched from his island.

“My team didn’t forget what Havlat did last game,” Recchi said. “I’d be pretty upset if I were his teammates, I’ll tell you that.”

(Here’s the reference to being accountable for your actions when you do something like high stick an opponent. You need to be prepared to face the consequences – and Havlat never did.)

And if the show of sportsmanship on the ice wasn’t enough, what happened off of it was just the cherry on top.

First, Brashear allegedly was making gestures down the hallway between the two locker rooms, mocking slitting his throat at Senator player Todd Simpson.

When asked about it, Brashear said, “No comment.”

(Brashear later admitted that he did make the gesture, but it was just in conversation, not really reported anywhere. But he was pissed at Simpson because Simpson and Brian Pothier were the guys who jumped him after fighting with Ray. The shouting in the hallway between the two locker rooms was insane. I was on the elevator with Bob Clarke and he was cursing the Senators the whole way down. He was walking with a purpose toward the locker room area and when he didn’t turn to go where he usually would to go into the Flyers locker room, it dawned on me that he was heading toward the Ottawa locker room. So I followed…more on this later… )

When peppered by a Canadian reporter as to why he sucker-punched Ray, Brashear said “I didn’t sucker punch him. If I’d have sucker punched him he would be laying on his back.”

Brash then said he started the whole bru-ha-ha.

“Of course I started it, why wouldn’t I start it?” he said. “Did you watch the last game? You figure it out.”

(Brash was always a great quote. Always.)

It was the same Canadian television reporter who crashed into a Comcast SportsNet reporter (not this one) during an interview with Senators coach Jacques Martin.

Looking like Tyrone Power and Basil Rathbone in “The Mark of Zorro,” the two reporters, wielding microphones, nearly killed each other.

(The CSN reporter was Yallof. I don’t want to make this sound like a stereotype, because it certainly doesn’t fit the bill for all Canadian TV employees, but, when it comes to hockey, both the Canadian TV guys and their cameramen have shown a propensity over the years to be a little more bullish when it comes to getting into position for a media scrum. The energy was so high that night that a little effort to create elbow room led to tempers flaring in the hallway between TV guys. It was just like this:

It was a lot more exciting than what Martin had to say, which was nothing.

Maybe that’s why Clarke called Martin “a gutless puke.”

Wait, when did that happen?

Oh, yeah. Clarkie stormed downstairs from his cozy perch atop the arena and had to be restrained from going after Martin in the Senators locker room.

He later eyeballed Senators G.M. John Muckler in the hallway before voicing his displeasure with NHL supervisor of officials, Claude Loiselle, who happened to be in attendance for the game.

Clarke said a lot more that can’t be reprinted here, but it was yet another priceless moment in the middle of a priceless turn of events.

(This was Clarke at his best. He made it all the way down the hall just outside the Senators locker room and was calling for Martin to come out. Some Flyers employees were holding him back as he yelled to Martin, “Come out here now you fucking gutless puke!” Muckler came out instead, but Clarke was already on his way back down the hallway and he just stared at Muckler the whole time. It was so WWE. Clarke addressed reporters afterwards. He said he wasn’t going to hit Martin if he came out of the locker room – although it sure looked like he wanted to – but rather wanted to challenge him for sending Neil and Chara after Somik and Timander. “Their tough guy [Rob Ray] got beat up and then their next two lines fought guys who don’t fight,” Clarke said.  “I understand Rob Ray fighting Donald Brashear. That’s okay. […] But don’t go after guys who don’t know how to defend themselves like Somik and Timander.”

Lost in all of this translation was the fact that the Flyers dominated Ottawa for the game’s first 55 minutes.

After allowing Neil to score the first goal of the game 4:07 in, Claude LaPointe, Recchi and Markov all put the puck past a shaky Lalime giving the Flyers a 3-1 lead after one period.

Kim Johnsson and Alexei Zhamnov also scored while Chara and Petr Bondra added goals for the Senators.

The win and the fights didn’t come without a cost, though. The Flyers lost three defensemen in the game and will have to make due with minor leaguers for at least Saturday’s game in Washington.

Chris Therien and Joni Pitkanen both left the game in the first period with injuries. Therien suffered a strained left shoulder, and Pitkanen was listed as having his “bell rung,” although Hitchcock later said it was a concussion.

Markov will also be out of the lineup serving a one-game suspension for picking up his third game misconduct of the year. This leaves the Flyers with Johnsson, Timander and John Slaney as the only blue liners remaining on the roster.

Kapanen was an emergency fill-in on defense for the last two periods against Ottawa and may see some time there against Washington.

Hitchcock also said Phantoms defenseman Freddie Meyer and Joey Hope could see time.

Of course, there’s also the possibility of Clarke pulling off a trade once he calms down.

With the win, the Flyers (35-16-12-6, 88 points) remained tied for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with Tampa Bay and moved seven points ahead of New Jersey in the Atlantic Division.

(Final notes: The only Flyers who were left available for the final minute of the game were Johnsson and Slaney on defense, Zhamnov, Simon Gagne, Tony Amonte, Kapanen and Lapointe with Sean Burke in goal…. It’s amazing the Flyers made it to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals despite all their injuries. They were without Keith Primeau, Jeremy Roenick, Eric Desjardins and Marcus Ragnarsson in this game alone – Todd Fedoruk and Dennis Seidenberg were healthy scratches. Chris Therien and Joni Pitkanen got hurt in the first period of this game. Clarke went out and traded for Vladimir Malakhov at the trade deadline three days later, but he also traded Therien, which proved costly because in the playoffs, Hitchcock had to frequently play Sami Kapanen as a sixth defenseman because of how injured they were… These two teams met again one more time on April 2 that season at Wachovia Center. Everyone was looking for a sequel – it turned out to be a dud. The Flyers lost 3-1 and the teams combined for 10 minutes in penalties total as neither team wanted to lose anyone to injury or suspension since it was the penultimate game of the regular season and the playoffs were around the corner. )

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